Fishing float



Oct. 11, 1966 F. A. LAMBACH FISHING FLOAT Original Filed July 24, 1963United States Patent 26,096 FISHING FLOAT Frederick A. Lambach, Omaha,Nebn, assignor to Plastilite Corporation, Omaha, Nebr., a corporation ofNebraska Original No. 3,142,930, dated Aug. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 297,418,July 24, 1963. Application for reissue Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 505.146

4 Claims. (Cl. 43-4495) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to a fishing float and more particularly to afishing float adapted to be attached to a fishing line.

The fishing float to which the present invention is directed is of thekind comprising a pair of hemispherical hollow members abutted togetherto form a generally spherical float. A pair of diametrically opposedhooks are used to secure a line to the top and/or to the bottom of thefloat. This general type of float has had wide commercial success and isproduced in large quantities, so that improvements in its constructionwhich facilitate either automatic assembly or use by fishermen are ofsignificant economic importance.

One problem in automatic assembly operations of a float of this type isthe difliculty in orienting the spherical float to assure that a centralbore therein is properly aligned for receiving a wire shaft, theopposite ends of which are bent to form the hooks. The central bore alsoreceives a spring and plunger assembly which retains the fishing linetightly secured to the bight of the opposed hooks. Accordingly, it is anobject of the present invention to orient the spherical float duringassembly operations by affording an annular collar extending upwardlyfrom the spherical surface of the float for engagement by an orientingmechanism to assure proper orientation of the spherical float duringassembly of the spring and plunger assembly and the hooked member.

A further object of the invention is to achieve a more accurate guidingof the spring biased plunger by guiding the plunger exteriorly of thespherical surface of the float by a collar projecting from the sphericalsurface.

Heretoforc, one hook of the wire shaft has been seated within a smallaperture in the plunger of the spring plunger assembly. Considerabledifficulty has been experienced in positioning this hook in thisaperture, both during manufacture and during use in the field byfishermen. Accordingly, it is another object of the present invention toalleviate the need for accurately aligning a hook with an aperture inthe plunger by providing an annular recess in the top of the plunger.With this construction, the end of the hook may be seated within anyportion of the annular recess.

A further object of the present invention is to achieve an improvedclamping of a small fishing line, such as a lightweight monofilamentfishing line, by extending the clamping portion of the plunger upwardlyof the outer surface of the plunger. The clamping portion of the plungeris formed with a rounded contour fitting within the curved portion ofthe hook.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferredembodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and whatis now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying theseprinciples. Other embodiments of the invention embodying these same orequivalent principles may be made as desired by those skilled in the artwith- Re. 26,096 Reissuecl Oct. 11, 1966 ICC out departing from thepresent invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fishing float constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a fishing float constructed in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the fishing float;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the fishing float witheach of the hooked ends of the wire shaft disposed in their respectivehook seats;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the plunger depressed into the upperspherical portion of the float and with the lower hook extending beneathits seat;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the plunger depressed within theupper spherical half of the float and with the upper hook disposed aboveits seat.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a generallyspherical fishing float 10 having a lower semispherieal half 11 and anupper semi-spherical half 12 abutted together and joined at a seam 13.The semi spherical halves 11 and 12 are preferably constructed ofthin-walled molded plastic, as best seen in FIG. 4, and havecomplementary seat portions 14 and 15 abutted together at the seam 13.The seat portion 14 of the upper hemispherical half 12 has a dependentinner circular flange 18, which is seated against the interior surface19 of the wall of the lower half 11 of the float 10. The upper and lowersemi-spherical halves 11 and 12 are bonded together by a suitableadhesive or plastic solvent to form the generally spherical float 10.

For the purpose of securing a fishing line to the float 10, the floathas a wire shaft 20 extending through the interior thereof, the oppositeends of the wire shaft 20 being formed with inwardly turned hookportions 21 and 22. The wire shaft 20 is of greater length than thediameter of the sphere of the float and its hook portions 21 and 22 arebiased into complementary seats therefor by a spring and plungerassembly 25. The spring and plunger assembly 25 has a plunger 26 biasedby a coiled spring 27 into engagement with the upper book 22 of the wireshaft 20 and hence the lower hook 21 is biased into a complementary seatin the lower hemispherical member 11.

To attach a fishing line to the lower hook 21, the wire shaft 20 andplunger 26 are moved downwardly to compress the coil spring 27, untilthe lower hook 21 assumes the position shown in FIG. 5 wherein the point30 of the lower hook 21 is disposed outwardly of its complementary seat32. After the fishing line is inserted between the pointed end 30 of thehook 21 and the bottom surface 33 of the lower spherical half 11 andinto the eye of the hook 21, the plunger 26 is released. The spring 27forces the plunger 26 and the wire shaft 20 to move upwardly to seatlower book 21 within the seat 32. The fishing line is thus gripped inthe bight between the curved portion or eye 21 and the bottom surface 33of the spherical float.

In order to attach a fishing line to the top of the float 10, theplunger 26 is depressed within the spherical float 10 while the lowerhook 22 of the wire shaft 20 is held against corresponding downwardmovement, so that the pointed end 37 of the upper hook 22 is spaced fromboth the top of the plunger 26 and the upper spherical half 12 of thefloat 10. The fishing line is then placed under the curved portion oreye of the hook 22. The plunger 26 is then released to move upwardlyunder the urging of spring 27 to engage the fishing line in the bightbetween the plunger 26 and the hook 22.

The spherical halves 11 and 12 each have a central cylindrical hollowsleeve 40 and 41 integrally formed on their respecive halves. Sleeves 40and 41 have their end portions telcscoped one within the other to jointhe halves at their centers. As seen in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 the wire shaft20 is received within the bores or hollowed portions 42 of the sleeves40 and 41. The hollow sleeve 41 of the upper spherical half 12 has aninterior shoulder spring seat 43, upon which seat rests a flat turn 44of the coil spring 27. The spring 27 has an opposite flat turn 45 inengagement with a lower end wall 48 of the plunger 26. With the floathalves 11 and 12 joined together and the sleeves 40 and 41 telescopedwithin one another, the interior hollow space 44 is a sealed air pocketinto which water is foreclosed from entering.

The plunger 26 is of improved and unique construction in that it hasformed in the upper portion thereof an annular cavity or recess 50,which is adapted to receive the pointed end 37 of the upper hook 22. Asheretofore explained, the point of a prior art hook, such as the hook22, had to be aligned with a small circular aperture which wascomplementary in diameter to the wire forming the wire shaft 20. Withsuch an arrangement considerable time and difficulty was experienced inlocating the end 37 of the book 22 within the small aperture, bothduring the manufacturing processes and during the utilization of thefloat by a fisherman. With the annular recess 50, the plunger 26 can berotated to any position and the point 37 of the hook 22 will still bereceived in annular recess 50. Hence, the need for orienting andlocating the pointed end 37 of the hook 22 relative ot a small aperturehas been eliminated. Also, the plunger 26 can be rotated withouttwisting or breaking the wire shaft 20. The prior art devices aresubject to destruction by children, who turn the plunger and, becausethe hooked end of the wire shaft is sealed in an aperture, twist theWire shaft.

The plunger 26 has a cylindrical clamping portion or annular ring 58,which is joined by oblique or conical walls 59 to the outer cylindricalwall or annular ring 60 of the plunger 26. The internal surface of thewall 59 (FIG. 4) forms a conical shape intermediate the ends of theaperture through the plunger 26; and the larger end of which is equal tothe diameter of the aperture within the wall 60, whereas the smallerinternal end of the conical wall 59 is equal to the diameter of theaperture within the wall 58. In order to facilitate the clamping of thefishing line by the upper hook 22, the cylindrical clamping portion 58of the plunger 26 terminates in a rounded surface 62 that fits neatlywithin the curved interior portion 63 of the book 22. Thus, the curvedinterior portion 63 of the upper hook is able to move into completeengagement with the curved, rounded surface 62 and contact monofilamentfishing lines of small diameter and of lightweight test. The roundedsurface 62 of the plunger 26 extends upwardly above the plane of the topsurfaces of the cylindrical walls 60 of the plunger 26 so as to enablethe operator to readily place the fishing line within the bight betweenthe hook 22 and the clamping portion 58 of the plunger 26.

The plunger 26 is guided for reciprocatory movement within cylindricalside walls 65 of the sleeve 41. Heretofore, difficulty has beenexperienced in prior art floats in that the plunger 26 was not guidedexteriorly of the spherical float and hence had a tendency to rotatewithin the cylindrical seat and turn the float sideways. According tothe present invention, this tendency has been alleviated by an outerintegrally formed collar 70 formed on the upper half 12 of the float 10,which surrounds a portion of the plunger 26 extending exteriorly of thefloat 10, so as to afford external guidance for the plunger 26 when itis in the position shown in FIG. 4.

The annular collar 70 performs dual functions in that it also serves asa locating collar for orienting the spherical joined halves 11 and 12preparatory to receiving the wire shaft 20, spring 27 and plunger 26.That is, the collar 70 affords a convenient projection for grasping by amechanical tool, and, upon being grasped, the bores 42 are located andcan be quickly oriented to the vertical.

Thus, the spherical float 10 can be rapidly aligned to have its hollowbores 42 vertically aligned, whereas with prior art devices, it wasdifficult to determine whether or not the spherical member had itscentral bore aligned or canted at an angle to the vertical.

Since floats of this general classification are produced in very largequantities and at small cost, the attaining of additional guidance by aguiding collar 70 provides increased effectiveness of the float at lowcost and at the same time affords a locating collar for orienting thefloat, facilitating the positioning of the vertical bore of the float 10preparatory to receiving the wire shaft 20 and the plunger and springassembly 25.

Also, the unique plunger assembly 25 facilitates the manufacture andassembly of float 19 by eliminating the need for precisely locating theseat for the upper book 22. Furthermore, the increased height of theclamping portion of the plunger 26, along with the rounded portionthereon, facilitates the clamping of lightweight fishing lines, whichheretofore have been diflicult to clamp against a top flat surface onthe plunger.

Hence, while preferred embodiments of the invention have been describedand illustrated, it is to be understood that they are capable ofvariation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited tothe precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchchanges and alterations as fall within the purview of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A fishing float for attachment to a fishing line having a firstportion thereof and a second portion thereof:

a lightweight float body having an axial bore extending therethrough,with one end portion of said bore affording a spring seat;

a biasing spring mounted within said spring seat;

a plunger, having a central axial aperture, extending into said bore andinto engagement with said spring, said spring biasing said plungeroutwardly of said bore;

a shaft extending axially of said bore and through said plungeraperture, said shaft having first and second hooked end portions forhooking said first portion of the line with said plunger and for bookingsaid second portion of the line with said float body;

a pair of inner and outer annular rings with an annular recesstherebetween in said plunger for receiving said first of said hookedends of said plunger on the said inner ring, said first of said hookedend portions having its terminal end extending into the recess betweensaid springs, said plunger being rotatable while said first hooked endportion is on the inner ring and with its terminal end disposed in saidannular recess and said plunger is biased to its maximum extentoutwardly of said bore;

and a surface on said float body opposed to the movable plunger havingan aperture of dimension just slightly greater than the diameter of thesaid second hooked end of said shaft to receive therein said secondhooked end portion of the said shaft.

2. A fishing float as defined in and by claim 1, wherein the float bodyis substantially spherical and wherein said plunger projects outwardlybeyond the surface of the spherical body and the surface of the bodyopposite the plunger is substantially flat, said aperture receiving thehooked end of said second hooked end portion therein for grasping saidsecond portion of the line, said flat portion also having spaced ribssubstantially in parallelism and the said aperture for receiving thesecond hooked end portion being between these ribs so that the secondportion of the line when gripped by said second hooked end portion willurge the said second portion of the line against said ribs.

3. The fishing float [is] as defined in and by claim 1, wherein thefloat is substantially spherical and the plunger projects outwardlythrough an opening in the periphery of the float, and a rlgid collarextending outwardly from the surface of the sphere and defining the saidopening, and the collar acting as a guide for the plunger.

4. A fishing float for attachment to a fishing line having a firstportion thereof and a second portion thereof:

a lightweight float body having an axial bore extending therethrough,with one end portion of said bore afiording a spring seat;

a biasing spring mounted within said spring seat;

a plunger, having a central axial aperture, extending into said bore andinto engagement with said spring, said spring biasing said plungeroutwardly of said bore, said aperture at one end thereof adjacent saidspring being larger in diameter than at the opposite end thereof, saidaperture having further a conicalshaped portion concentric with thelongitudinal axis thereof and formed intermediate the ends thereof, withthe larger diameter end of said portion equal to the diameter of saidaperture at said one end, and with the smaller diameter end of saidportion equal to the diameter of said aperture at said opposite endthereof;

a shaft extending axially of said bore and through said plungeraperture, said shaft having first and second hooked end portions forhooking said first portion of the line with said plunger and for hookingsaid second portion of the line with said float body;

said plunger having an arcuate cavity formed concentrically about saidaperture for receiving said first of said hooked ends of said plunger,said first hooked end having its terminal end extending into saidcavity, the depth of said cavity being greater than the length of saidterminal end, said plunger being rotatable while said first hooked endportion is extended into said cavity and said plunger is biased to itsmaximum extent outwardly of said bore;

and a surface on said float body opposed to the movable plunger havingan aperture of dimension just slightly greater than the diameter of saidsecond hooked end of said shaft to receive therein said second hookedend portion of the said shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner The following references, cited by theExaminer, are of record in the patented file of this patent or theoriginal SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner. WARNER H. CAMP, Examiner.

Disclaimer Re. 26,096.Fre(l0rick A. llambach. ()muha, Nebr. FISHINGFLOAT. Patent dated Oct. 11, 1066. Uisuluimvl' filed July 23, 1976, byH10 ussignee, lluszilite Corpomziun. Hereby enters this (lisvlaimvr (0claims 1 and 2 of said patent.

[Official (r'azeffie March 22, 1 977.

